A feature of today's world is a trend away from centralization, and toward greater diversity and devolution of control over social institutions. In this new world, which some call postmodernity, more voices are being raised, including voices that once went unheard. And these voices are bringing a surprisingly different range of messages to policy makers and governments. They tell of human values once hidden by dominant ideologies and belief systems. And it must be admitted …showed first 75 words of 1279 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1279 total…an epidemic of school failure by saying "It's absolute nonsense . . . that some people are saying it's too tough. Well, the fact of the matter is the world is tough out there". In Ontario, positivist assessment methods and mass testing are being used to strike against the very substance of liberal education itself, especially at the more abstract and humanist forms of knowledge and the forms of intellectual accomplishment that were once cherished by liberal educators.